This invention relates generally to tool bars for use in track presses and more particularly to an adjustable pitch tool bar assembly having easily and rapidly changeable bushing and pin tools.
Crawler or track laying tractors are widely used particularly in heavy duty work. The track employed in such tractors includes ground engaging shoes or growsers removably secured to a drive chain. The drive chain includes a plurality of sections, each section including a pair of spaced apart side links. The sections are pivotally jointed to one another by means of cross pins and bushings. The bushings and pins are press fit into the cooperating ends of links to pivotally join the sections to one another to form the chain.
Because of the nature and operation of tractors, the tracks are subjected to rapid wear and require frequent repair. Generally, for repair, the track is removed from the tractor by removal of a master pin, mounted on a track press and moved to present the links in succession to a track press work station. The work station includes a jaw for holding the chain in position as hydraulic rams move spaced pin and bushing tools mounted on a tool bar into cooperative relationship with the pins and bushings to remove the pins and bushings from the links to disassemble the track. During assembly of the track, the track is moved in the opposite direction and the pins and bushings are reinserted by spaced pin and bushing tools. It is common during assembly to have to disassemble and reassemble a number of sections because of faulty reinsertions of pins and bushings or lubricant leakage. In such instances, the assembly pin and bushing tools must be removed and the disassembly pin and bushing tools inserted and then the assembly pin and bushing tools reinserted for reassembly.
There are many models and sizes of track laying tractors manufactured by each of a number of manufacturers. The track size differs for different models, sizes and manufacturers. As a result, different sizes and pitch of pin and bushing tools are required to provide the proper pitch and size to engage the pins and bushings for the variety of tracks encountered.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,075,346, there is shown and described a tool bar including a T-groove and T-bolts which hold the bushing and pin tools and which provides for adjusting the pitch. Tool bars are also available having spaced pairs of tool mounting holes disposed on a centerline. A multiple pitch tool including a plurality of pairs of tool mounting holes and which also include means for mounting the bar on the track press tool head at different heights is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,939,648. Another adjustable pitch tool bar is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,007,584.
The foregoing track press tools provide improvements over the prior art. They are adjustable and adaptable for a large number of tracks. However, in the assembly and disassembly of modern tracks, as pointed out above, it is often required during assembly that certain links be disassembled and reassembled. In such instances, the pin and bushing tools must be changed. In the prior art the tools must be disassembled from the tool bar and reassembled. This operation is time consuming. There is, therefore, a need for a tool bar having pin and bushing tools which are easily interchangeable for assembly and disassembly operations.